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The History of Berlin University of the Arts

As a result of its varied history, the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin) is both a young institution and an old one. The university’s current structure has developed over the decades since its founding in 1975 as “Hochschule der Künste” (HdK); in November 2001 the institution was renamed “Universität der Künste Berlin,” or Berlin University of the Arts. Taking into account its predecessor institutions, however, UdK Berlin has a history of more than 300 years, going back to the founding of the Brandenburg-Prussian Academy of Arts in 1696.

The “Hochschule der Künste” was created by the merger of two arts academies, the “Hochschule für Bildende Künste” and the “Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst” in what was then West Berlin. Both academies had been close neighbors since 1902, when they began using the building complex at the corner of Hardenbergstraße and Fasanenstraße in Charlottenburg, which is still in use today.